Round 7Marques shows his potential in 'the Racing Cathedra’

Assen has been a very eventful weekend, unfortunately marked by big crashes. Jorge, Marc and Dani were affected in practice. Why do you think so many crashes happened?

Assen weather is always “tricky” and, apart from Dani who had a crash in the last minutes of Q2 on a dry circuit, both Jorge and Marc crashed mainly due to the very difficult conditions of the track. Also in other classes we have seen many crashes, so I think there is nothing wrong with the circuit itself - more the weather. Luckily on Saturday the sun arrived, and we were able to have a good race that saw the return of Valentino to the top after almost 3 years.

Dani was again leading the race in the first laps, but couldn’t keep the pace to fight for the win in Assen. What was the reason?

Dani had a great start, and was first in the first corner despite starting from the second row. In the first laps, while tire grip was good, he was able to keep a good pace and lead the race. Unfortunately he suffered again, like in Barcelona, when the grip went down and he was not able to ride as before. We need to work to avoid this in the future, working on the set up of his machine.

The fact that Jorge Lorenzo returned to Assen to take part in the race only 24 hours after having a collarbone surgery was the biggest new of the weekend. What do you think about it and what would you have advised your riders if you were in the same situation?

First of all, congratulations to Jorge, as he did an unbelievable job. He took a big risk but it paid off as he only lost 2 points to Dani. The second question is very difficult, as I think in these kinds of situations the rider is the only one who really knows how he feels, if he wants to race or not… for sure if they want to try I would do the best to support them, but the decision is always up to the rider.

Marc took part in the race, also injured after his crash on Friday morning. He had a small fracture in the intermediate phalanx of the little finger on his right hand and also in the first row phalanx of the big toe in his right foot, but he decided to race without painkillers. I guess the second position in the race was better than expected…

For sure Marc also did a great job, as on top of the small fractures, he was also suffering pain in many parts of his body. He didn’t want to take a strong painkiller before the start of the race, as he was worried about losing the feeling of his right hands, and having a problem with the brake. In the last laps it was very difficult for him and a second position in these circumstances has been a very good result.

Looking at the championship situation, Dani is now leading the standings - 9 points ahead of Lorenzo and Marc is third, with 23 points less than Dani. How do you approach the next two races in Germany and Laguna before the summer break?

As always, we will do our best to come back victorious! As we always say, the situation between Honda and Yamaha is very balanced, and depending on the circuit characteristics, we will have races where one or the other will have a small advantage. Anyway, I am optimistic, as Dani is leading the Championship, with two wins at the moment. Last year when he was fighting for the title to the end, he had his first win in Sachsenring, and Marc, apart from Mugello where he crashed when he was second, has always been on the podium. That is a great result, especially considering he is a rookie in MotoGP. It means we have a strong team and we will work hard to win as much as possible!